Mets sign lefty reliever Luis Avilan to minor-league deal

Before making a bigger splash with the Jed Lowrie signing, though that one came with some questions, the Mets made a smaller move on Thursday to acquire a lefty arm for the bullpen.

They signed Luis Avilan to a minor league deal with a spring training invite, bringing some much-needed southpaw depth to the pen.

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“Luis is a left-handed quality Major League reliever who addresses another offseason priority,” Mets general manager Brodie Van Wagenen said in a statement. “We are pleased to see these types of proven players want to be a part of what we are trying to build.”

Luis Avilan. (Hunter Martin / Getty Images)

Avilan was most recently with the division rival Phillies and pitched to a 3.18 ERA in only 5.2 innings at the major league level last season. Before that, he bounced around between the Braves and Dodgers and had his best season in Atlanta as a 23-year-old when he threw 65 innings to a 1.52 ERA and 5-0 record. Left handers have a career .213 average against him and he has a strikeout/walk ratio of nearly three against them.

The Mets made two big bullpen moves to acquire closer Edwin Diaz and bring back setup man Jeurys Familia. Both are right-handers, though, and the Mets are likely still in the hunt for another lefty reliever to go along with Avilan.